Honda Civic Type R Sets FWD Records at 5 European Tracks

The Honda Civic Type R has stolen back its thunder from the VW Golf GTI Clubsport S after the Golf broke its Nürburgring record.

The Japanese automakers took its hot hatch on a tour of European circuits to set new record lap times for FWD models at each of those tracks.

First, though, the backstory. Ever since Renault set a record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for a FWD car back in 2011 with the Mégane RS Trophy, which ran a lap time of just under 8 minutes and 8 seconds, holding this record has become coveted by European hot hatches. The Civic Type R took the Nürburgring title in May 2014 by clocking a lap time of 7:50 – a record recently broken by the VW Golf GTI Clubsport S this past May by a slim margin (7:49.21).

Now the folks at Honda have set a new challenge for their German competitor. They’ve set record lap times for a FWD model at five different race circuits in Europe. It began back in April at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, with British Touring Car Championship winner Matt Neal setting a dry lap time of 2 minutes 31.85 seconds.

The Type R also took in the sights at Spa in Belgium, the Autodromo Nazionale in Monza, Italy, Estoril in Portugal and ended with Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz setting a time of 2:10.85 at the Hungaroring in Hungary last June 6.

All times were set using a production Civic Type R which comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that churns out 305 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque.